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>general overview of "screamers"

A screamer, also known as a jumpscare or scary pop-up, is a type of game, video, website, or program that aims to scare and startle viewers by tricking them into focusing on the screen before revealing a sudden and often frightening change. Most screamers use a combination of creepy or unsettling images and loud, sudden noises to create a sense of shock and fear in the viewer. For example, a screamer might appear to be a harmless video or game, but then suddenly flash a disturbing image of a face or creature accompanied by a loud scream to achieve their intended effect. Unlike horror films and professional horror games, screamers are designed to surprise the viewer, and may even include graphic and disturbing images that shock and traumatize the viewer, making them a type of shock site.

Screamers often rely on deception to work. They may use clever editing, false promises, or other tricks to convince viewers that they are watching something harmless or mundane. The most famous example of this is What's Wrong With This Picture?, The Maze by Jeremy Winterrowd and more. This is often done to make the eventual jump scare more effective, as the viewer is caught off guard and taken by surprise. Despite their popularity and notoriety, screamers remain a controversial and divisive form of internet content. These types of pranks are often spread through social media and messaging platforms, and typically rely on the viewer being unaware of the content they are about to see. In some cases, screamers are used as a form of advertising, although this practice has been criticized for being uncommercial and upsetting to viewers. Many websites and online communities have implemented policies against screamers and similar content, citing concerns over the psychological impact on viewers, particularly those who may be vulnerable or have anxiety or other mental health issues.

Origins

The first screamer to be aired on television in the 20th century was an anti-heroin campaign titled Monkey on Their Backs, which features a wind-up monkey toy playing its cymbals while a young girl's voice discusses addiction to heroin. Suddenly, the monkey stops playing and the camera zooms in on its face, which abruptly changes to a still image of a real-life monkey screaming at the viewer, accompanied by a loud primate scream. The text "Why do you think they call it DOPE?" appears on screen. One of the earliest screamers in the 19th century was a program created by Patrick Evans, titled "Nightmare" that, when executed, features a digital image of a skull facing right with its jaws open, covered in blood, and bearing a bullet wound.

In advertising

K-fee's "Auto" is one of the most recognizable as a screamer.

Prior to the emergence of screamer videos, a number of public service announcements were broadcasted with the intention of shocking viewers with disturbing imagery in order to raise awareness about various issues. One early example is the Faroe Islands (WDC) PSA which depicted the slaughter of dolphins by islanders. In addition to public service announcements, screamers were also utilized as a means of advertising. Perhaps the most well-known example of advertising screamers is the controversial "Wide Awake" campaign launched in April 2005 by German beverage company K-fee. The campaign consisted of nine 20-second television commercials that portrayed peaceful scenes which were abruptly interrupted by the appearance of a zombie or a gargoyle screaming at the camera, followed by the company's slogan and product. The advertisements were criticized for being uncommercial and upsetting, with many viewers complaining to K-fee, which subsequently took the commercials off air. Although it is rumored that a warning message was displayed before the advertisement played, this has not been proven. The K-Fee Car commercial was featured on several TV shows, including The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, K-Fee's official website, Tarrant on TV, and America's Funniest Home Videos. In 2021, a one-hour documentary video featuring the actors from the commercials was uploaded to YouTube by Rhys Lapsley. Count the Snow Bunnies was also aired and uses the sample of where the viewer search for something.

The advertising campaign for the 2018 horror film "The Nun" utilized an unskippable YouTube ad that violated the platform's "shocking content policy." The ad featured an iOS device volume icon and then suddenly transitioned to the titular character with a loud scream. A Twitter post featuring a clip of the ad went viral, garnering over 145,000 likes and 132,000 retweets, as well as numerous complaints to YouTube. The platform subsequently removed the ad.

Internet screamers

Internet screamers is another term of "screamer" that defines various form of online media as a form of video, website or a program that are intended to scare the viewer.

One of the most notable example of internet screamer was 2004 computer game made with Adobe Flash, The Maze. Created by Jeremy Winterrowd in 2003, this interactive media is disguised as a simple computer game in which players use their mouse to guide a blue square through a narrow path without touching the walls. As the player advances through the levels, the walls progressively become smaller, making it increasingly challenging to avoid hitting them. This design prompts players to bring their faces closer to the screen and concentrate on the game. At the third level, the walls become so thin that it becomes difficult to avoid touching them. At this point, regardless of whether the player succeeds or fails, an image of Regan MacNeil, the possessed character portrayed by Linda Blair in the horror movie The Exorcist suddenly appears on the screen accompanied by an edited sound effect of her screaming playing twice. This jumpscare tactic is a hallmark of internet screamers.

What's Wrong With This Picture?

Main Article: What's Wrong With This Picture?

The stock image from What's Wrong With This Picture?, one of the most original screamers.

There are various other types of screamers that involve staring at a dot or finding the difference between two pictures. One notable example is the 2001 screamer called "What's Wrong With This Picture?" or simply "What's Wrong?" The screamer, which pretends to be a still image, begins with a normal stock photo of a dining room and asks the viewer to find something wrong with it. After 30 seconds, the image suddenly changes to an eyeless woman with a wide open mouth putting her hands around the side of her face, accompanied by a loud scream. This screamer gained significant popularity and was even featured in The New York Times on April 22, 2002. The creator of the animation, Jaybill, stated that he made the screamer "exclusively for the purpose of scaring my girlfriend.".

Malicious scripts

In some cases, internet screamers may be created with malicious intent, designed to deceive the viewer into believing that their computer has been infected with a virus or that they have unintentionally accessed illegal content. These types of screamers can be particularly dangerous, as they have the potential to cause panic or anxiety in the viewer and may even result in them inadvertently downloading malware or other harmful software. Malicious screamers may be disguised as seemingly harmless content or may be found on websites that contain malicious scripts in the screamer's source code. Scareware is another type of malicious software that seeks to both scare the viewer and harm their device. These types of screamers use various tactics to freak out their victims, such as putting the viewers' device/browser into full-screen mode right after a page loads, locking volume adjust at the highest level, opening infinite tabs/windows, downloading other malicious software on the viewers' device, and shutting down the device's system or making the device unusable.

One well-known example of a malicious screamer is McDonalds.exe. Upon execution, the program would display an excerpt from a horror story before returning to the desktop and opening a dialogue box containing an email address and phone number. After a brief second, the screen would cut to a black-and-white image of a pale woman, which would intermittently display on the screen until the process was terminated. Malicious scripts also have its purpose to scare the viewer from being prevented to close the tab as the screamer appears, which are used in Srerrt.exe and To my dear her.

In popular culture

Pee-wee's Big Adventure

In the Warner Bros. film Pee-wee's Big Adventure, Pee-wee Herman was picked up by deceased driver Large Marge, who tells him a story about a terrible accident she passed away. However, Large Marge turns around at Pee-wee and abruptly transforms into a scary face with the effect of "pinching her eyes / punching her mouth" accompanied by a laughing sound effect, scaring Pee-wee and causing him to get out of the truck.

The Amazing World of Gumball

In the Cartoon Network animated series The Amazing World of Gumball, the episode named “The Internet“, parodies the K-fee advertisements. In one scene, Gumball and Darwin appear randomly browsing the web while watching videos. Among these videos, they come across what is implied to be the K-fee Car ad. Gumball watches the video, commenting on the white car driving through the hills and staring closely at the screen, when suddenly a loud scream, which sounds nothing like the scream heard in the actual commercial, is heard, causing him to have an intense reaction which gets recorded and posted to the web. The rest of the episode involves Gumball trying to get rid of the video about his reaction, which has given him unwanted fame.

In the episode "The Spoiler", when Anais wants Gumball to take her to a horror movie, Gumball pulls a prank on both her and the audience by having the screen suddenly cut to a picture of a real-life piranha with its mouth fully open alongside a screeching noise. The screen then cuts to Anais white with shock while Gumball sports a smug grin.

Gravity Falls

In the Disney animated series Gravity Falls, the episode "Summerween" also refers to screamers. After many failed attempts at scaring two kids who have been coming to the Mystery Shack for trick 'n' treat, Grunkle Stan asks them what they find scary. One of the children shows him a video on his smartphone which says "Watch closely". It then shows a cute kitten, which is abruptly cut by a screaming demonic face, scaring Stan and causing him to have a nervous fit.

Drawn Together

In the Comedy Central animated series Drawn Together, the episode ''Spelling Applebee'' parodies the flash screamer Where's Waldo?. In one scene, Princess Clara disguises herself as Waldo and tells Captain Hero before she disappears into the crowd: "You know where to find me". After a while, the screen cuts to a close-up picture of three monstrous-looking aliens, accompanied by a piercing screech. Earlier, The image with the screaming aliens appeared during the Foxxy Love montage in the same episode.

The Shivering Truth

In Adult Swim's stop-motion animated sketch comedy series The Shivering Truth, the episode ''The Burn Earner Spits''' cuts to a woman walking with an Umbrella until she stops. Vernon Chatman, the creator and narrator of the show attempt to count the numbers; which abruptly transforms into a Deformed human face, zooming in, accompanied by a piercing scream.

Reaction videos

Main Article: Reaction videos

Screamers and shock sites, which originally took the form of chain emails, have since evolved into reaction videos where people record their responses to scary or shocking content. These videos have become popular on video-sharing platforms, such as YouTube, and are credited with starting the trend. One of the earliest screamers to gain popularity was What's Wrong With This Picture? in 2002, which was followed by the screamer reaction video of a boy named Justice playing The Maze in 2007. The popularity of screamer reactions on YouTube peaked in 2008 with the video created by nalts, which has accumulated over 43 million views to date. The Maze's creator, Jeremy Winterrowd, also held a contest called the Winterrowd Prank Contest where people could submit their reaction videos and the most voted submission would receive a prize. These screamers and their reaction videos have been parodied on television shows such as America's Funniest Home Videos and Saturday Night Live.